Hospitals and community health services across Cheshire and Merseyside will receive £8.3m of national funding to install clean energy and energy-efficiency improvements across their estates.
The investment is intended to lower energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and enable savings to be redirected into frontline patient care.
The funding forms part of the NHS Decarbonisation Fund, through which 82 NHS trusts in England will share £65.4m allocated by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to support sustainability projects.
The funding is intended to help the health service move towards its goal of becoming the world’s first net-zero health system.
Range of energy upgrades planned
Projects across the region will include a range of estate improvements, such as:
- Installation of solar panels and battery storage
- LED lighting upgrades
- Modern building management systems
- Clean heat and wider energy-efficiency measures
These upgrades are expected to reduce operating costs at healthcare sites while contributing to lower carbon emissions across the NHS estate in the region.
Savings generated from reduced energy use are expected to be reinvested into services for patients and local communities.
Trusts receiving the funding
A total of eight NHS organisations in Cheshire and Merseyside will share the £8.3m investment:
- Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Part of a wider public-sector programme
The regional allocation is part of a broader £74m national package supporting clean energy upgrades across hospitals and other public-sector sites, aimed at cutting energy costs and strengthening long-term resilience in public services.
“This £8.3m investment is fantastic news for our region. By upgrading lighting, installing solar panels and making other efficiency improvements, we will cut carbon emissions while reducing energy costs at a number of our NHS sites,” said Dave Sweeney, Associate Director of Sustainability and Partnerships at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.
Across the NHS, decarbonisation and estate modernisation are increasingly central to long-term planning, with the sector identified as one of the UK’s largest energy users.
The latest round of investment is designed to support trusts in improving efficiency and meeting future energy demands while continuing to deliver patient care.